Paulo Fonseca: The team have done a great job
Monday, January 23, 2017
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Shakhtar head coach assessed the match against Cracovia and summed up the completed mid-season training stage
- Paulo, what can you say about the opening match of this year: are you satisfied with the team’s performance and final result?
- We have been working all week long, and we have done a great job after a long vacation. It is understandable that players are far from their ideal form now. There is much to be done to achieve that, since the lads had been on holidays so long. Therefore, we will keep on working hard. At the same time, I am satisfied with the match. I liked the way the players had proved themselves.
- What are your impressions of the training camp in Spain?
- Generally speaking, I am quite satisfied. Nothing is lacking here for playing good football. We had only bad luck with the weather: there was a strong wind, it rained and even snowed. However, the lads presented themselves well, having done perfect work. Yes, they got a little tired, but so it goes - they must continue to prepare for the season and improve themselves.
- When giving interviews, the players focused on three issues: high intensity of the training sessions, a lot of ball-work, and just one friendly match over nine days.
- Yes, despite the fact that we worked mostly with the ball, training should be intensive – it just can’t be otherwise. The match against Cracovia revealed how well the footballers have been training throughout this week. However, as I have said, there are some things we have to improve.
- On January 25, the training camp in Portugal kicks off. What do you expect from it?
- First of all, I hope that we will be luckier with the weather in Portugal, and weather conditions will allow us to prepare properly. As far as our training programme is concerned, we will continue to do the stuff we have been doing throughout this week. There will be more friendly matches to reveal what our players are capable of.
- We have been working all week long, and we have done a great job after a long vacation. It is understandable that players are far from their ideal form now. There is much to be done to achieve that, since the lads had been on holidays so long. Therefore, we will keep on working hard. At the same time, I am satisfied with the match. I liked the way the players had proved themselves.
- What are your impressions of the training camp in Spain?
- Generally speaking, I am quite satisfied. Nothing is lacking here for playing good football. We had only bad luck with the weather: there was a strong wind, it rained and even snowed. However, the lads presented themselves well, having done perfect work. Yes, they got a little tired, but so it goes - they must continue to prepare for the season and improve themselves.
- When giving interviews, the players focused on three issues: high intensity of the training sessions, a lot of ball-work, and just one friendly match over nine days.
- Yes, despite the fact that we worked mostly with the ball, training should be intensive – it just can’t be otherwise. The match against Cracovia revealed how well the footballers have been training throughout this week. However, as I have said, there are some things we have to improve.
- On January 25, the training camp in Portugal kicks off. What do you expect from it?
- First of all, I hope that we will be luckier with the weather in Portugal, and weather conditions will allow us to prepare properly. As far as our training programme is concerned, we will continue to do the stuff we have been doing throughout this week. There will be more friendly matches to reveal what our players are capable of.